Automatic sprinkler-head.



F. J. FEE.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER HEAD.

APPLICAT1ON men FEB. 21. l9l6.

1,253,019. Patented Jan. 8,1918.

WITNESSES omvm UNITED sTATEs'PA'rENT oFFIoE.

FRANCIS JOSEPH FEE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER-HEAD.

To all-whom it may concern: Be it known that I, FRANCIS J FEE, a c|t1-'zen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York,borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York,

have invented a new and Improved Automatic Sprinkler-Head, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to automatic sprin kling devices for buildingsand has particu' lar reference to means for reliably initiating the flowof water in the event of sufficient heat being generated in the vicinityof the device to melt an easily fusible metal.

'Among the objects of the invention is to improve the means for insuringthat the parts normally held from relative separation by the fusiblemetal shall separate bodily or substantially one from the other at allpoints when the fusion takes place, whereby a softer and weaker fusiblemetal may'be employed for the purpose than may be used in the ordinarydevices now onthe market.

Another object of the invention is to improve the tension means forsprinkling heads so as to make available in a superior manner ameanswhereby the principal tension is sustamed by non-fusible metals or bymetals of such a nature and form as to resist any. 80 tendency of whatis known in the art as cold flow with a corresponding release of thevalve mechanism, prematurely.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe, arrange- 85 ment and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact detailsof construction disclosed herein, still for the purpose of illustratinga practical embodi- .40 ment thereof reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame parts in the,-several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a verticalsectional view of a preferred embodiment of the invention in toward theleft in Fig. I;

ig. '3 is a view corresponding to Fig-1 but indicating the releasingaction under the influence of heat; Fi 4 is a transverse sectional det'l on 85 the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 showing particu arly o thecrosssectional rm of the yoke arms:

Specification of Letters Patent.

.1n manipulation.

Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

Application filed February 21, 1916. Serial No. 79,561.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the tension member;

Fig. 6 is a bottom .plan view of the spreader;

Fig. 7 and i Fig. 8 is a cross sectional detail of one of the togglelink arms showing the shape providing a point contact with the side edgeof the yoke arm whereby the possibility of a sluggish collapsingactiondue to corrosion, calcimine or the like is avoided.

The general principles and construction of this invention are similar inthe main to many devices heretofore proposed and on the market, the sameincluding a body 10 constituting a delivery nozzle and tapped'into thewater pipe connection 11. Said nozzle is provided with a slightlycontracted throat surrounded by a rim or seat 12. Thisbody is providedwith flat faces for convenience A yoke comprising upwardly and inwardly.curved arms 13 is connected to thebody and this yoke provides asupport14. having an axis in alinement with the axis of the nozzle opening,said support' being internally threaded for the accommodation of acompression member in the form of a screw 15 acting downwardly towardthe nozzle seat 12.

At 16 is indicated the cap for normally is a bottom plan view of thecap";

closing the nozzle and preventing the escape or leakage of water.' Thiscap comprises preferably two parts; first, a disk -17.of copper, Germansilver, or some other -noncorrodible metal and adapted to make directintimate contact with the edge or rim 12. The other part of the cap is'of brass or some "other suitable,'strong, rigid material. The

two parts 17 and 18 are permanently and rigidly united by any suitablemeans making practically a single member. Any suitable number or form ofprojections 19 may be provided on the lower face of the disk 17 toprevent lateral displacement of the cap from the nozzle seat. The upperportion of the capis provided with anupwardly projecting, central,round-pointed post or stud 20. 1'

The compression member complete. includes not only the screw 15, butalso'a head or spreader 21 into which the head 22 of the screw iscountersunk and locked by means of a key 23.- The periphery of thespreader constitutes in efi'ect a downwardl ing circular rim broken toprovi e a. series for proj e'ct- -of said hub but of a length stoppingshort of contact with said hub. I also provide aplurality of verticalholes 27 through the spreader for delivering a portion of the watertherethrough. The inner end of the compression member is provided with acentral spherical seat for a ball 28.

Between the cap and the compression memher I provide a strut comprisingtwo toggle links 29 and 30, one having. a spherical cavity at its lowerend to receive the point of the stud 20 and the other having a sphericalcavity at its upper end to receive the ball 28. The lower link 29 has aconcavity 31 to receive the lower edge of the link 30. The concavity 31and edge of the other link c0- operating therewith extend horizontallyor at right angles to the line of compression between the center of theball and the center of the point 20, said line of contact, however,between the toggle links being spaced laterally from the planecoinciding with said line of compression and parallel thereto. In otherwords, the line of contact between the two links 29 and 30 constitutesin effect a hinge and the toggle members are so ar ranged that the axisof said hinge shall never come within the aforesaid line of compression.Each of the toggle links or members 29 and 30 is provided with an arm32, each of said arms with -the link to which it is connectedconstituting substantially a right angled bell crank. The outer end ofeach arm is provided with a book 33 projecting in the opposite directionfrom the hook of the other member. Since the longitudinal or compressionaxes of the links29 and 30 form-an obtuse angle approximating 180degrees in practice, the two arms projecting laterally from the sameside of the device are arranged divergent from each other at theirhook-shaped ends, the amount of divergence being proportional to theamount of angula-rity between the two compression axes of the togglelinks. \Vith the toggle links arranged as shown in Fig. 1, and with ingnormally between the hooks 33 of the arms and resisting said force ofcompression tending to break the toggle and increase the divergence ofthe arms. This tension mem her is shown in the form of a link 34comprising a pair of plates and 36 each having a hole 37 therethroughfor engagement with one of the hooks Each of these plates issubstantially flat except for a depression formed in the central portionof each. The plate 35 is provided with a depression 38 on its innerface, said depression providing a shoulder 39 at its upper end buthaving its lower end without a shoulder. In other words, this depressionin vertical transverse section is substantially wedge-shaped, or in theform of a right angled triangle whose hypotenuse coincides with theinner face of the plate. The other plate 36 is provided with adepression 40 having substantially square shoulders 4-1 and 42 at itstop and bottom. These two depressions are so formed as to lie oppositeeach other when the plates are connected in operative position, or, inother words, with the shoulders 39 and 41 lying in the same orsubstantially the same horizontal plane. From what has been stated, Iwould have it plainly understood that each of the plates on its innerface has direct contact against all of that portion of the other platesurrounding said recesses; that is to say, the two recessescommunicating with each other so far as the structure of the plates anddepressions is concerned form a cavity within the central portion of thelink, all of said recesses; being remote from all or any exposed edgesof both link plates.

Said cavity formed by the recesses of the opposing plates is designed toreceive and hold a metal or other strong rigid key 43 practically ofwedge shape or of right angled triangular form in vertical crosssection, the base of the triangle lying in the bottom of the recess 40and the right angle ofthe key fitting into the angle at 41. In otherwords, the hypotenuse of the triangular key structure extends diagonallyacross the "plane joining the two plates, the key having one edge at oneend of said hypotenuse lying in the angle at 42 and the opposite end ofthe hypotenuse in or against the angle at 39 of the opposite plate. Thiskey, therefore, lies in direct contact with the metal of the plates 35and 36 and serves under normal conditions to sustainnearly all of thetension applied to the link by the tendency of the toggle devices tospread the I arms 32. Since, however, the active edges of With therocker 43 in lace in the cavity in the central portion 0? the tensionlink, and the flat portions of the plates lying flatl against eachother, the meeting edges of t e two plates are soldered together by asoft solder or fusible metal indicatedat 44, said fusible metalextending all the way around said meeting.edges, thereby serving twopurposes; first, to lock the plates together forming the tension link,and, secondly, the solder thus applied constitutes a seal excluding allmoisture from the cavity in which the rocker is housed. It will thus beseen that the rocker and plate parts encorrosion or other conditionswhich would tend to cause the rocker to stick and defeat or retard theaction of the plates for separation when required.

As .in other devices previously proposed for this purpose, the togglemechanismand the tension device serve as a means to lock the cap inclosing position under ordinary conditlons, sufficient compressionbeing" created through the screw to set up ahigh degree ofstrain uponthe toggle link to instantly collapse the compression and tensiondevices upon the weakening of the connection between the tension linkplates. Even though the pressure of the water within the pipe and nozzlemay be enormous, there is no danger ofleakage due to the fact that thecompression is. almost all applied directly upon the cap. a Acomparatively small proportlon of the strainis exerted laterally,owever, due to the angularity of the toggle links, but the fractionofthe strain thus defiected laterally is again resisted mainly by thedirect draft from one link plate to the other-'through the, directcontact with the rocker 43. .It will thus be appreciated that finallybut a comparatively small amount of ;the compression originally p by thecompression member requires to be resisted by the solder or fusiblemetal 44. It is possible, therefore, by this constructipn to employ asolder having a very low melting point, and yet possessed of amplestrength or the purpose. Furthermore, eventhough the solder employed mayhave an exceedingly low melting point, there is no likelihood ofpremature or accidental separation of the plates 35 and 36 due to coldfiow or other conditions, since it must be appreciated that the actionof the ,rocker is such.

that the turning moment thereof aroundthe' two-contacting fulcrum edgesat the corners 42 and 39 is resisted all the way around the rockercavity and with practically uniform strength. In other words, the actionof the rocker as herein set forth insures that the plates may separatebodily or in practically parallel planes atthe moment that theseparationis initiated and that practically all of v 6|! the solder must meltatthe same time. In rect contact with the plates at the ends oflaflother words, 'until the heat is suflicient to L melt practically all ofthe solder, there can be no separationof the plates. By formingthe'plates, howevenof copper or of some .other metal having highconductivity of heat, the melting of all of the solder Wlll be insuredpromptly when occasion requires.

When the solder melts, however, there is practically no resistance tothe rolling or rocking of the rocker around its points of support, andthe strut or toggle devices collapse immediately, setting the cap freeto be thrown from its place and out of the way by the force of thewater. The water then dashes forcibly against the under face of thespreader, a portion ofwhich is projected laterally therefrom along thefins 26, j

the tangential arrangement of which has a tendency to compress thestreams of water causing a portion of it to be delivered farther than byother means similar to the ac-' tion of. a hose nozzle, other portionsof the water passing upwardly through the holes 27. In this-connection,however, I call special attention to the novel shape of the arms 13 ofthe yoke, the same having knife edges 45 which set up the least possibleresistance to the water being thrown laterally from the vertical axis ofthe device."

The form of the cap is such as to reduce the likelihood of collectionand retention of moisture or other conditions which would tend todestroy its effectiveness by corrosion or otherwise. Itisto be notedalso that the link 34'includes two plates of different-identity, makingit practically impossible for the device to be improperly assembled.

I claim 1. The herein described tension member for an automaticsprinkler head, the same tions lying squarely againsteach other andcomprising a pair of plates having flat poralso having oppositelyarranged depressions I forming a cavity in the central portion only ofthe member, a wedge-shaped rocker member housed entirely within saidcavity and rio spaced inwardly from all edges of the] plates, saidrocker member having its active faces lying on opposite sides of theplane of contact between the flat portions of the plates, and solderextending entirely around and spaced from said cavity and rocker andsealing all the meeting edges of theplatesf t 2. The herein describedtension member for an automatic sprinkler head, the same comprising apair of plates having flat pertions in direct contact with each other,one

of the plates having a depression whose bot- 'tom is parallel to theplane of contact between the plates, the other plate also having adepression comm unicating with the v -first mentioned depression formmga cavity, a rocker fitted in said cavity and having disaid cavity, saidrocker being of substantially right angled triangular form in verticalcross section andhaving its base fitted squarely in the bottom of thefirst mentioned cavity, and fusible metal serving to normally lock theplates together.

3. The herein described tension device for an automatic sprinkler head,the same comprisinga pair of plates each having a depression formed atits middle portion, said depressions being of different vertical crosssectional form but one registering with the other forming a cavity, arocker having greater thickness at one end than at the other fittedwithin said cavity and having 5 parallel fulcrum edges engaging directlywith the opposite plates on opposite sides of the plane .of connectionbetween the two plates, and fusible metal sealing the meetmg edges ofthe plates entirely around but 20 spaced from said cavity and rocker.

FRANCIS JOSEPH FEE.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. ARCHIBALD, HENRY J. Sonoomm.

